Professor Ivan Blackwater, Grand Arch Mage of Naraka, Liberator of Khalot, King of the Blackwater Kingdom, and Slayer of Grom
Ivan's Childhood Ivan Blackwater was born in the mystical realm known as the Feywild, in the bustling city of Cendriane. A prophesy formed around the time of Ivan's birth that said that the newly born son of the Blackwater house would assist the one that would cause the destruction of the universe. This worried the Eladrin people of the feywild, and there were many that attempted to kill this newborn in his crib. Ivan was forced to be raised in secret by his mother and father, Cynthea and Isaac Blackwater. His parents hid him as best they could in the lesser know, more populated areas of the city where they might be lost in the crowd, and forgotten about. At the young age of eight, Ivan was already becoming very rebellious. He was out for himself, did not obey his parents curfew, nor did he care about their attempts at hiding him from the world. He even once accidentally set fire to the house down the street from him when he attempted to cast a pyromantic spell. Whenever his parents would try to discipline him, he would use the powerful untrained magic within him to get his way. This magic was unfocused however, and led to many of Ivan's spells backfiring and causing him grievous injuries. Ivan Leaves Home At the age of fifteen, Ivan's home city of Cendriane was attacked by foul creatures known as the "Fomorian" along with other demoic creatures. They enterred the city and began mercilessly killing off any Eladrin they could get their hands on, and burning what they could. The people fled in a mad panic to escape the formorian, and when the city burned, Ivan fled, takin g everything he needed with him and he never looked back. Ivan eventually became lost in the endless trees and vines of the Feywild. Somehow (Ivan still does not know how) Ivan spontaneously teleported to the mortal plane, to the continent of Nuuvaka. Ivan appeared before a large stone mages tower that was accepting new recruits. Ivan decided it was time to become a certified wizard. He had always been magically talented, but it was time to learn how to focus his powers, and how to become even stronger. Ivan's Studies in the Mage's Tower Becoming accepted into the mage's tower was all too easy for Ivan, with his skill in casting the spells magic missile and prestidigitation. Upon entering the tower, Ivan began his study of the realms of magic. He focused on the schools of pyromancy and teleportation magic during his time at the mages tower, but he branched out and learned a wide range of spells, and it is here where Ivan received his first spellbook and his first ritual book. He quickly became one of the most talented mages at the tower and especially of the war wizards within the tower, and would often impress even the arch mage of the tower. In the library of the mage's tower, Ivan came across an old dusty tome that detailed the greater god known as "Tharizdun". The book talked of the chained god's need for worshippers to break the chains that bind him. He decided to devote his worship to the chained god, Tharizdun and preach the worship to him to others in order to do his part in breaking the chained god's chains. The Blood Mage While within the mages tower, Ivan had a short romantic relationship with an elven girl named Talia when he was about 19 years old. She had been roughly Ivan's age, and the two had gotten along extremely well. She was Ivan's first love, but unfortunately they were not meant to be. Talia and Ivan were drawn together by their twin desire for greater power and sense of amusement with the casting of spells, but Talia was willing to go to far greater lengths than Ivan to achieve this power. Going so far as to practice the forbidden art of blood magic. A type of magic that is commonly known to lead to insanity. Talia began showing Ivan a more darker side of her that enjoyed the tormenting of others, and the disregard for anyone but herself and her magic. Ivan was unsure of what to do about Talia because of his love for her, but when Talia had grown so crazed with power that she ended up destroying the mages tower, Ivan challenged her to a magical duel. He wanted revenge for the mages tower, and all his fellow mages that had been lost inside of it. Talia accepted this challenge, but her blood magic was far from focused, and she was not nearly powerful enough to wield it to its full potential, so Ivan defeated Talia in an epic magical duel to the death that Talia did not survive. After Talia was dead, Ivan swore to himself that he would never love again, and he decided to focus solely on his studies of magic. The Silver Light Order By now, Ivan was roughly at the age 22 years old, and he was already becoming an experienced mage. He travelled across the land, earning his way by performing magic and making what money he could when a regal-looking male Rakshasa introduced himself to Ivan. He introduced himself as Rekiel (ree-key-ell), and he showed a great interest in Ivan's skills as a magic user. He offered to teach Ivan how to harness his thoughts and emotions in order to manipulate the world around him. Ivan accepted, always willing to learn and master a new kind of magic. Ivan eventually was able to perform several psionic powers such as projecting a thought into someone else's mind, lighting a nearby flamable object on fire, and he could even lift small objects into the air and move them about using only his mind. Rekiel himself was a powerful psion, and he was leader of an order of psions known as the "Silver Light Order". Also, because he is a Rakshasa, he has the ability to reincarnate himself upon being killed. Ivan had been taught for a short time by the silver light order, but they eventually wanted to indoctrinate Ivan into their order, and they were rather forceful. Ivan, on the other hand, did not want to join them. He would have to commit himself to their order, say vows, abandon titles, and essentially live the life of a slave to their order's wishes. Unfortunately, Rekiel does not take "No." for an answer, and the Silver Light Order began to hunt down Ivan in order to force him into their order, or kill him. Rekiel claims that it was Ivan's choice for the order to pursue him, and that he painfully regrets that it must come to this. Ivan has actually managed to kill Rekiel three separate times, and yet Ivan is still pursued by Rekiel and the Silver Light Order. Arriving on Khalot Ivan Blackwater arrived on the island continent of Khalot in an attempt to escape from Rekiel, and his psionic servants. He arrived by boat at the docks of the city of Garuthar, and met with two other individuals; Colby Fairscale and Errol Holmes. They instantly bonded and decided to travel along with one another, but before long the trio could feel the oppressive atmosphere of the town, and they decided to leave immediately. The party ventured south along the road to the town of Sargot, a small town several hours from Garuthar. When they had arrived they found that the town was under attack by a giant spider. The trio leaped into action and an epic battle ensued. Ivan with his arcane magic, Colby with his sword, and Errol with his healing magic. After the three of them had slain the giant spider, the town had proclaimed them to be their saviors. The townspeople then told the group of the tyranny of King Grom, and of how he had taken away their women and children to god knows where. The townspeople begged the group for their help in combating King Grom, and getting their loved ones back to them. Ivan, Colby, and Errol agreed to this, and began preparing the town's defences for the next time King Grom's forces should approach Sargot. The Battle of First Blood When the town of Sargot was preparing itself for battle by fortifying its walls and setting up guard towers, the city of Garuthar sent a platoon of armed guards south down the road to Sargot where they were met by the forces of Sargot being led by trio Ivan, Colby, and Errol. The forces clashed, and the battle raged. The trio even had a necromancer named Terrence assisting them during the fight. He had been living inside of a crypt within the town of Sargot when the party had arrived. Eventually, the platoon of guards sent by Garuthar was defeated, and the town of Sargot remained free for another day. But with the evil King Grom still alive, the war was not over, and the town of Sargot began rebuilding it's forces, and fortifying it's walls. Every day was another chance for an attack on the town, so the party had to be vigilant at all times, keeping a constant watch. Attack on Grom's Camp With enough assembled townsfolk from Libero and rebels, along with the small kobold army assembled by Colby, the trio decided it was finally time to save the women and children that the evil King Grom had taken away. The party marched on the encampment where the group had been told the women and children were being kept, but they were met in battle by King Grom himself before they could even enter the encampment. The party engaged King Grom in combat, but every attempt at hitting King Grom proved useless when a blue sheen passed over his body, protecing him from harm. Even Ivan's magic missiles, which are known for their impressive accuracy, could not harm Grom. The trio retreated with their remaining forces and fled to safety, away from the immortal King Grom. The attack proved to be a failure, but the party didn't give up. Later, the party came to a city in an effort to restock on supplies when they saw several humans forcing a wolf to fight a giant spider, similar to the spider that had attacked the town of Libero. The wolf appeared to have a blue sheen that passed over it when the spider attacked it, but this sheen appeared to be weaker than the one King Grom used. The shield was apparently generated from a magical crystal that could sustain a certain spell, like a protection spell, without the caster having to cast it themselves. The crystals were extremely volatile though, and dropping one could cause it to explode with magical energy. Khalot is Freed With the death of King Grom at the hands of the liberators of Khalot, and his remains thusly crafted into Ivan's famous Grom Staff (a staff with the sentient head of Grom attached to the end), the kingdom was split up into four different sections each governed by a seperate king. The eastern section was given to the necromancer Terrence, the western section was given to Errol Holmes, the northern section was given to Ivan Blackwater, and the southern section was given to Colby Fairscale. In the center of each of these sections was the town of Sargot (now known as Libero). The town of Libero was ruled by each king of Khalot equally, but their leadership was only given in the event the town needed them to. When Ivan was declared king, and the surrounding land declared to be the Blackwater Kingdom, Ivan began work on an extremely large mage's tower in the center of the city for all magic users to study the realms of magic within. The Grand Library In the city of Garuthar, next to the mage's tower, is the world's largest known assembly of knowlege and literature ever to be contained in one library. It was created by the King of Garuthar, Arch Mage Ivan Blackwater a year after Khalot had been freed, and it was to be a fountain of knowledge for all the world to enjoy. Ivan believed that the common peole were very easily swayed by charismatic figures, and were open to manipulation if not properly educated in the ways of the world. This library contains every known genre of book divided into organized cateories, and the number of books it contains range in the hundred-thousands. Ivan's Schools for the Magically Gifted After the events of Khalot, his marriage, and the birth of his first son Devrin Blackwater, Ivan began travelling the world setting up schools and towers that would train magic users, and teach them how to use their power. The schools were known as Arcane Sanctums, and they practise every single one of the various schools of magic (except blood magic, which is banned from all mages towers and arcane sanctums). A common mage's tower has an entire floor devoted to a single school of magic, like pyromancy or necromancy. Anyone capable of performing magic would be allowed to enter an arcane sanctum and be taught by the mages within. Anyone attempting to enter an arcane sanctum or one of Ivan's mage's towers without permission, or without first having proved their arcane talent will be repelled magically and physically by the members of the school or tower. Each school or tower has it's own headmaster, but Ivan Blackwater is the arch mage, and reigning authority over all of them. Each headmaster has the ability to mentally send Ivan Blackwater a distress message, in the event of an emergency. Ivan however, will not be able to respond back without the use of a ritual, but he will be able to know which headmaster sent which mental message. After 20 years, there had been over two-hundred arcane sanctums set up all over Naraka, and roughly around twenty mage's towers. Ivan often spent time traveling the land, preaching the worship of the greater god, Tharizdun and fortifying the various mage's towers and arcane sanctums. He would even sometimes gift a lucky young mage with a magical item, crafted by Arch Mage Ivan Blackwater himself. Many merchants value these magical items higher than the standard versions of the magical item on the grounds that it had been made by a powerful mage, rather than a common one. Terrence's Final Gift to Ivan Before Ivan Blackwater left the island of Khalot on his mission to set up arcane sanctums and mage's towers throughout the land, Terrence the Grandlich placed a powerful magical spell upon Ivan's body. This spell would lie dormant until triggered by Ivan's death, and isn't even detectable by the average mage. When the spell is triggered, Ivan's body will reform if damaged, and will be teleported away to Terrence's exact location. From there he vows that he will resurrect Ivan using the same magic he used to resurrect Ivan's body guards during the events of Khalot. Ivan's Family *Sivaria Blackwater (grandmother on father's side) race: Eladrin gender: female occupation / class: Sorceror *Ceryan Blackwater (grandfather on father's side) race: Eladrin gender: male occupation / class: Ranger *Avaris Flightspeak (grandfather on mother's side) race: Eladrin gender: male occupation / class: Nobleman / Wizard (mage) *Maryanne Flightspeak (grandmother on mother's side) race: Eladrin gender: female occupation / class: Swordmage *Isaac Blackwater (father) race: Eladrin gender: male occupation / class: Artificer *Cynthea Blackwater (mother) race: Eladrin gender: female occupation / class: Shaman *Heather Blackwater (wife) race: Human gender: female occupation / class: Housewife / Noblewoman *Devrin Blackwater (1st son) race: Eladrin gender: male occupation / class: Arch Mage Regeant and King Regeant / Warlock *Eric Blackwater (2nd son) race: Human gender: male occupation / class: Swordmage